Preface to Luther's Commentary on Romans
- Sep 6, 2011
- Michael Streich
On May 24, 1738, John Wesley was attending a Bible reading at a home in Aldersgate, London. During the reading of Martin Luther’s Preface to St Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Wesley later related that he felt “his heart strangely warmed…” That reading showed the founder of Methodism that only by God’s grace, given freely through faith in Christ, can salvation be attained. Luther referred to Romans as the “daily bread of the soul,” and that every Christian should know this epistle word for word.
The Law of Man, God’s Law and Good Works
Luther’s exposition of Romans began as a series of lectures. The Preface outlines Luther’s understandings of each chapter and begins with a series of “words” associated with the epistle. Luther points out that it is important to know what Paul, the author of the epistle, actually meant when writing about law, grace, sin, flesh, and righteousness. Luther begins with law, differentiating between the law of man and the law of God.
In discussing the law of God, going back to the Old Testament for example, Luther introduces the conclusion that law, “cannot be satisfied with works.” Grace versus works would comprise the debates between Reformers like Luther and apologists for Catholic doctrine and everyday faith practices. The Catholic Church taught that good works were tied to grace. For Luther, St Paul’s message was very clear: no amount of works could ever repay the debt of mankind’s sinful condition before God. Only God himself could repay it through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Luther identifies the hypocrisy of the law: people keep the law outwardly in order to avoid punishment, but have a spirit tied to sin inwardly. Referring to Romans 5, Luther states that, “the more the law demands what men cannot do, the more they hate the law.” The law, according to Luther, must be fulfilled “from the heart,” and that is only possible through an infusion by God’s Holy Spirit.
Faith, Sin, and Good Works
Luther always emphasized faith. St Paul’s definition of faith, preached by Luther after his “conversion” by reading Romans without the blinders of medieval scholasticism, became a cornerstone belief of the Reformation. In his Preface, Luther notes that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit cannot be given to men apart from faith in Jesus Christ. That faith comes through the Gospel and the various epistles of which Romans was, per Luther, “the very purest.”
Referencing John’s Gospel, Luther writes that faith “makes us to be born anew of God.” In this, Luther reminds the reader that faith results in good works, the fruits of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. The other side of the equation is sin. Luther’s exposition demonstrates that pleasure in external works, to fulfill the law for example, or to act righteously without having God’s inner righteousness, is sin. Those people fitting this description may appear righteous outwardly, but – according to Luther, “commit sin in secret.”
All men are sinners by virtue of the “first Adam.” But, as Luther notes, Christ is the second Adam. Referencing Genesis, Luther demonstrates that Christ’s death was the bruising of the serpent’s head, the “Protoevangelion” associated with Genesis 3.15. In order that the law would be fulfilled, Jesus paid the debt through his own death. Luther uses a simple example to help people understand this:
“It is just as if you owed a debt to your landlord and could not pay it. There are two ways in which you could rid yourself of the debt – either he would take nothing from you and would tear up the account; or some good man would pay it for you, and give you the means to satisfy your account. It is this latter way that Christ has made us free from the law.”
Conflict between the Spirit and the Flesh
Flesh refers to “everything that is born of the flesh” (Luther), and not merely “unchastity.” Luther states that the reader must think of this condition as “fleshly,” a state of being. Thus, a “fleshly” man might talk about God and “spiritual matters” outwardly, but lack inward grace. Hence, the works of the flesh include sinful living as well as unbelief.
Luther contrasts this with the spiritual man who, like Jesus, would wash the feet of the disciples. The spiritual man doesn’t work for “temporal profit,” but demonstrates the “spirit” both inwardly and outwardly. The spiritual man puts the love of God before any endeavor or personal thought.
The conflict between the Spirit and the flesh continues in the life of a Christian and, as Luther points out, even St Paul referred to this conflict in his own life. But men that are free from the debts of the law have strength in Christ through faith. According to Luther, “Christ bears with the weak, strengthening their faith.” This is, according to Luther, "pure liberty."
Final Considerations in Luther’s Preface
Luther comments on St Paul’s admonition to obey the civil government as well as his request for a donation to help the poor in Jerusalem. Luther ends his Preface noting that St Paul “wanted to comprise briefly in this one Epistle the whole Christian and evangelical doctrine…” Given the importance of Romans, Luther counsels Christians to read and know the epistle regularly.
Reference:
- Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, J. Theodore Mueller Trans. (Grand Rapids: Kregel Publications, 1976)
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